There are two ways that you can iron your jeans -- the easy right way or the hard wrong way. Slipping into bad clothing-care habits is easy to do. Although you may not realize it, a lapse in your attention to details, such as iron temperature and the direction in which you run the iron on the fabric, can cause serious and permanent damage to your favorite jeans. You can avoid the unpleasant consequences of improperly ironed jeans, such as scorching and stretching, by refreshing yourself on ironing basics.

Read the garment care tag attached on the inside of the jeans to determine what type of material they are constructed from and adjust the the iron temperature setting accordingly. Adjust the temperature to high for cotton denim, medium-high for wool and wool blends.

Plug the iron into an electric outlet and set the ironing board to the upright position. Allow the iron to heat for five minutes.

Spray the jeans with a medium starch to help them retain their shape -- use heavy starch to give the jeans extra stiffness. Roll the jeans loosely and leave for five minutes to help the fabric better absorb the starch.

Place the jeans lengthwise on the ironing board and stretch the legs until they lay flat on its surface. Press the heated iron on the material and run it over the hems, pocket seams and waist first, then iron the legs with smooth up and down motions until the wrinkles are removed from the hip to the hem.

Flip the jeans over and repeat the ironing process on the back of the leg and seat.

Fold or hang the jeans and store them in a cool dry space.

Items you will need

Iron

Ironing board

Starch

Tips

Iron with straight, even motions -- twisting the iron will stretch the fabric.

Use a 12 amp cord for irons if an extension cord is necessary.

Allow jeans to rest for two hours before folding or hanging.

Warning

Never leave a hot iron unattended.

References

About the Author

Chance Henson earned a B.A. in English literature and a writing minor from Lamar University. While interning at the "University Press" newspaper and "UP Beat" magazine he received an award for news feature writing from the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association. Henson went on to serve as content editor for "CUSH Magazine," eventually leaving to pursue the development of an online secular humanist educational publication.